How to Draw a Mug

Paso a paso

1. Paso 1

   Decida su nivel de ojos y marquelo.

   Everything about the ellipses follows from this. If the mug is below your eye level you will see into it; if it is level you will not. Make the decision consciously now rather than letting it drift halfway through the drawing.

   Cuidado. Not deciding, then drawing a rim that contradicts the base.

   Comprobar You should be able to say whether you are looking down into this mug or across at it.

2. Paso 2

   Dibuja el borde como una elipse, en un solo movimiento rápido.

   Go round three or four times without stopping and keep the best pass. Speed is what makes an ellipse smooth - drawn slowly it comes out lumpy on one side every single time, because your hand cannot hold a curve at low speed.

   Cuidado. Building it out of short careful arcs.

   Comprobar It should be symmetrical about its own long axis.

3. Paso 3

   Dibuja los dos lados recto hacia abajo, disminuyendo ligeramente.

   Start exactly at the ends of the ellipse's long axis. A slight taper inward looks more natural than perfectly parallel sides, and it is what most real mugs do.

   Cuidado. Starting the sides inside or outside the rim, which leaves a visible step.

   Comprobar Each side should begin exactly at the widest point of the rim.

4. Paso 4

   Cierre la parte inferior con una elipse ligeramente más redonda que la parte superior.

   The base is further from your eye level than the rim, so it is rounder. Same width, more curve. Getting this relationship right is the difference between a mug that sits on the table and one that appears to be sliding off it.

   Cuidado. Drawing the base flatter than the rim, or as a straight line.

   Comprobar Rounder than the rim, and exactly the same width.

5. Paso 5

   Añadir una segunda curva justo dentro del borde.

   This thin band is the thickness of the ceramic, and it is what makes the top read as an opening rather than a painted disc. One stroke, following the rim's curve.

   Cuidado. Drawing it parallel all the way round instead of following the ellipse.

   Comprobar There should be a visible band between the two curves at the front.

6. Paso 6

   Dibuja la curva exterior del mango.

   Start just below the rim and end about two-thirds of the way down the side. Both ends must touch the mug - a handle that floats beside the body is the most common error here and it is instantly visible.

   Cuidado. Leaving a gap where the handle meets the mug.

   Comprobar Both ends of the curve should touch the side of the mug.

7. Paso 7

   Dar el espesor de la manija con una segunda curva en el interior.

   A handle is a strap, not a wire. The inner curve runs parallel to the outer one and meets the mug slightly closer in at both ends. This is a small change that makes a large difference to how solid the mug looks.

   Cuidado. Drawing the handle as a single line.

   Comprobar There should be a visible gap between the two handle curves.

8. Paso 8

   Marca de dónde viene la luz.

   Pick a side and commit. A cylinder shades differently from a sphere - the darkest band sits just inside the edge on the shadow side, not at the very edge, because light bounces back up off the table onto the rim.

   Cuidado. Shading the very edge darkest, which makes the mug look flat.

   Comprobar You should be able to say which side is lit.

9. Paso 9

   Alejar el lado de la taza de la luz.

   Work in one direction rather than scrubbing back and forth. Scrubbing gives an even grey, which is exactly the thing that makes a drawing look flat, so lay the strokes the same way and build the darkness in passes.

   Cuidado. Being too timid. Beginners routinely stop two or three steps short of dark enough.

   Comprobar The dark side should be clearly darker than the mid tone, not slightly.

10. Paso 10

    Agregue una tira más ligera justo en el borde de la sombra.

    Light bouncing off the table catches the very edge of a cylinder, so the darkest band sits slightly INSIDE the outline. Leaving that thin lighter strip is what makes the mug read as round rather than as a shaded rectangle.

    Cuidado. Running the shading right up to the outline.

    Comprobar There should be a thin lighter line between your shading and the edge.

11. Paso 11

    Añadir la sombra en la superficie debajo.

    The cast shadow is darkest where it touches the mug and softens as it moves away. It also anchors the object to a surface - without it the mug floats, however well you have shaded it.

    Cuidado. Drawing it as an even grey blob detached from the object.

    Comprobar It should touch the object and be darkest at that contact point.

12. Paso 12

    Repasa las líneas que quieres mantener, y pierde los guías.

    This is the step that turns a construction drawing into a finished one, and it is the one most people skip. Press harder on the outline and the features; leave the small stuff light. That difference in weight is what makes a drawing look deliberate rather than traced, and it costs thirty seconds.

    Cuidado. Going over everything at the same weight, which flattens the drawing back out.

    Comprobar The outline should be clearly darker than the smallest details.